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London
For the 'suburb' of London, see New London. London is a recurring city throughout the Mortal Engines Quartet and the Fever Crumb Series. History Black Centuries London was a large and powerful city before the Sixty Minute War, but during the Black Centuries became a hell-hole; generally people avoided it due to it being devastated by orbital weapons. However, during the transition between the Black Centuries and the Traction Era, London was re-inhabited and became a city of trade, learning and politics. It was conquered by the Scriven during the dawn of the Traction Era; they ruled London for around a hundred years, before being evicted by an uprising by the human population. Early Traction Era After The Movement conquered London, their leader Nikola Quercus oversaw the conversion of the whole city into a colossal mobile construct. Rather forgotten was the fact that in the process more than half of London’s population was abandoned, due to the need to mobilise and because of their apparent lack of skills to maintain the city. This sparked the Second Traction Boom in which many cities followed suit in mobilising. In the ensuing war London eliminated the remaining Nomad Empires of the North. When the Traction Cities adopted the system of Municipal Darwinism London became a predator city, eating hundreds of smaller statics and traction towns alike. London was a feared predator in the golden days of Municipal Darwinism and eventually built twenty two suburbs to carry her excess population and hunt on London‘s behalf. The most famous was Crawley, although there were several more, including Purley Spokes and Tunbridge Wheels. Late Traction Era (events of the Quartet) Many hundreds of years after the golden age, London tried to use an old directed-energy superweapon named MEDUSA to break through the shield wall at Batmunkh Gompa. The computer brain was tampered with by Katherine Valentine and the weapon backfired, destroying London. Many believed that the ruins of London were haunted, until this was confirmed as not true in A Darkling Plain. London was eventually rebuilt as the hovering mag-lev New London, which did not consume other cities. Notable Residents *Tom Natsworthy *Thaddeus Valentine *Katherine Valentine *Bevis Pod *Lavinia Childermass *Claudeigh Pomeroy *Angie Peabody *Clytie Potts *Garamond *Magnus Crome *Dr Arkengarth *Dr Twix *Dr Popjoy *Fever Crumb *Kit Solent Notable Locations Pre-Traction London *Orbital Moatway *Brickwater Marshes *St Paul's Cathedral *The Barbican (Grounded after the Scriven invaded London) *Godshawks Head Traction Era London *St Paul's Cathedral *Merchant Guild's Air Harbour *Clio House *The Gut *Tier 5 Air Harbour *Airdock Green *Mortlake *Sternstacks *Bermondsey *Tottenham Court Road *Mayfair *Pete's Eats *The Guildhall *The Engineerium *London Museum Portrayal in Adaptations 2018 Movie Many hundreds of years after the golden age, London tried to use an old directed-energy superweapon named MEDUSA to break through the shield wall at Batmunkh Gompa. The weapon had been reconstructed in secret within the Saint Paul's Cathedral. During London's attack on the shield wall it was able to fire MEDUSA twice, to which almost all of the wall was destroyed. However, before they could deliver the final blow Hester Shaw was able to sneak in and disable the weapon during it's third launch sequence. This caused it to backfire, destroying the Cathedral and the upper parts of London. In a last ditch effort to break through the shield wall Thaddeus Valentine ordered London to drive directly into it, but once again, the plan failed as Tom Natworthy destroyed The Gut (London's Engine) causing London to completely break down just short of the wall. Most of London's residents fled the city's and took refuge in the Batmunkh Gompa, leaving the city relatively abandoned. Gallery London-traction-city-movie.jpg|Promotional schematic of London Category:Cities Category:British Cities Category:Destroyed Cities Category:Traction cities Category:Moving Cities Category:London